In various geographic locations, multiple access points (APs) are available to communicate with wireless devices. Ideally, communications can be conducted in a seamless fashion, with a consistent quality of service, even when communication is initiated at one AP and completed at another AP.
In some instances, it may be the responsibility of the device (e.g., as part of a client device to first access point (AP) to potential second AP link) to generate traffic streams having a quality of service defined by a traffic specification (TSPEC). However, when a handoff may be needed, such as when the device roams away from communicating with one AP into a different area, it may not be able to determine which of several candidate APs in the new area can support the current specification. Making such a determination incorrectly may interrupt service of the traffic stream long enough to create a perceptible loss of quality in an application running on the device. While it may be possible to use heuristics to predict whether a selected AP can support a particular specification (e.g. based on past usage history, or on an observation of activity in the device's basic service set), the resulting accuracy may be limited.